Heroic
by orsumfenix
Summary: Five times James Tiberius Kirk wasn't a hero, and one time he was.


_**This is something I just wanted to write. It's quite short, but at least it's been written now. **_

**Jim Kirk doesn't think he's a hero. He's been other things, but to him, a hero is not one of them. Or… Five times Jim wasn't a hero, and one time he was. **

**1. **James was a _victim_.

James was the innocent party, the one that was hurt for no reason. He lost his father, George (hero), he was abused by Frank (villain), he got ditched by Sam (coward). He never really committed a crime, never said or did anything to _make _Frank hit him. But he was hurt anyway for no good reason.

His mother, Winona (bystander) certainly didn't see him as a victim. She knew his father had been a hero, but he was certainly not the victim for her. To her, he was the _villain_. He was the one who made George sacrifice himself, he 'accused' Frank of abusing him, he crashed the car.

James only crashed the car because he was sick of being the victim. He was sick of having Mrs Jones ask where he got his bruises, and having to lie. He wanted to be a coward, like Sam, but knew that, him being a victim, things would only get worse for him.

Frank was the worst villain James had ever even heard of. Frank was just so cliché, preying on the innocent and twisting the truth. Every villain has a victim. That victim was James.

The villains never really seem bad at first. Frank didn't. He was nice to James, he made the younger boy trust him. The victims are always too trusting, too willing to provide service or investigate something.

Most victims either stay victims or die. He died, well, the victim part of him died, when he first got into that car and started driving.

It was nice, getting that rush of adrenaline, knowing that he wasn't a victim any longer, he was something else now. Though he wasn't _quite _sure what he was now.

In the police station, before Frank arrived, he allowed a small smile to come to his lips.

He wasn't James (victim) anymore. He was Jimmy (villain).

**2. **Jimmy was a _villain_.

Jimmy was a troublemaker, known for being the bad boy in the colony. He always got into fights, talked back to teachers and played pranks on people.

Despite all this, he managed to get good grades, and was _very _good with younger children.

Jimmy got into a lot of trouble of school, purposely picking fights and beating up the other boys when they were willing to fight back. The teachers would often tell him off for being lazy and not listening, a scowl creeping across their features when he answered back rudely.

He got into trouble a lot, known for not taking anything seriously and flirting with the girls. It was one of his hobbies to secretly sneak a cigarette or a bottle of alchahol. His aunt (Good Samaritan) would frown at him and mutter about how she didn't know how Winona had coped with him. He'd smile cheekily and go out to tease the people in the village.

He'd regret his bad ways later. When Kodos (villain) was looking through the records of Tarsus IV, Jimmy was selected for the death list, too troublesome to be worthy of food.

He stole food from other people when it became scarce. He stole the teacher's rations when they left them on the front desk. He didn't even feel guilty. He needed food, too. He just didn't realise that they were getting even less food than him.

When they escorted him to the square, he was excited. He would be getting more food, he was sure of it.

When the opposite happened, when he received a death sentence, he started to cry as he realised that the villains get killed off or sent to jail. This was his own fault.

He wasn't Jimmy (villain) anymore. He was JT (bystander).

**3. **JT was a _bystander_.

JT was just a member of the crowd, one of many helpless to do anything as lives were shot down around him. He could just stand and watch in horror as his neighbours were killed just for being there. He only wished he'd been nicer to them when they were alive, but he was helpless to change that, too.

As he ran, he could do nothing to save anyone else, just be witness to countless deaths.

He ended up looking after some others, like Kevin Riley (victim). There was about twenty kids in all, and JT was once again forced to watch them all waste away while he could do nothing.

When some of Kodos' men (evil henchmen) caught the kids, he could only watch with horror as they were killed and then run for his life. A hero would have tried to stop it. A coward would have run straight away. A villain would have helped the henchmen. He was none of those. He could only watch.

JT was under no illusions that he was special. Just one of many that got lucky. Just a member of the crowd that managed to slip away unnoticed.

He was unable to fight back when he was captured and locked in a cell. When Star Fleet (heroes) finally came and allowed the henchmen to survive, he was helpless to tell them of what the men had done. He was helpless to even speak as his cell door was opened and he was escorted to a hospital.

He was unable to ask if any of the others had survived. By the time he woke up, he was told that he was not allowed to know who'd made it, 'for his own protection'. They told him that Kodos was dead, but he wasn't allowed to check the body and see if it was really him.

Out of the hospital, he knew that things would change. He would no longer be a bystander.

He wasn't JT (bystander) anymore. He was Jim (coward).

**4. **Jim was a _coward_.

Jim was someone who ran away from things, made himself forget. He was a coward.

He immersed himself in drinks and girls, spending every night in a bar trying to hit on women. He made sure his mind went hazy and he could forget all that he had been.

He didn't know why he stayed in Iowa, even when Frank still lived there. Probably just because he was too scared of being somewhere unfamiliar. He liked to know everything, and when he didn't know everything it scared him.

He made sure that any sign of trouble he ran away from. Sure, he got in bar fights and flirted with taken girls, but the _real _trouble he made sure to avoid. He couldn't afford to be reminded of his past.

The bartender seems to know his pain, never refusing to serve him and making sure he always got the drink he wanted.

It was easier to waste his life and have nothing to live for. He wouldn't have to face more pain that way.

He flirted with Uhura (princess) but didn't actually make a full move on her, he was a coward in that way. He hid behind a pretty face with a false mask of confidence, arrogance and cockiness.

Christopher Pike (dispatcher) dared him to stop being a coward, to become a hero. Jim accepted simply because he was sick of running away.

He was no longer Jim (coward). He was Kirk (cheater).

**5. **Kirk was a _cheater_.

Kirk didn't play fair. He cheated on the test.

The _Kobayashi Maru _itself was a cheat, he figured that much out for himself. To win it the only way was to cheat yourself. Cheat the cheater.

He got in trouble for it. He was seen as the cheater by _everyone_, even Leonard McCoy/Bones (helper). He got dirty looks wherever he went, in the hallway, in the big room, even in that damn shuttle.

He cheated his way onto the Enterprise, got booted off it, found older Spock (cheater) who had cheated even more than _he _had, and managed to cheat his way back on board.

He even cheated his way into command.

Kirk couldn't bring himself to feel guilty. He did what had to be done. He cheated Nero at his own game. He won.

When the _Enterprise _was given to him, he felt happy, but then realised that he'd basically cheated into getting it. So he made a promise to himself. A promise that even the cheater would keep. That he wouldn't cheat any more. He would be completely honest.

He was no longer Kirk (cheater). He was the Captain (hero).

**+1. **The Captain was a _hero_.

James Tiberius Kirk was finally a hero. The good guy that everyone wants to save.

He always managed to survive, somehow. He always pulled through with little consequence. His life was finally back on track.

When Kahn/John Harrison (villain/false hero) arrived, he shook everything up. The Captain's world began to unravel around him, and it didn't help that Spock ratted him out and got him into trouble. He almost lost his chance to be a hero.

But this was his chance to _be _somebody. To be the hero. To save people's lives.

So he ran into the warp core, used all his strength to fix it, and eventually fell against the floor with the knowledge that he was finally, _finally_ the hero. The person he'd wanted to be his entire life.


End file.
